Issue 45 of The Dulwich DiverterDulwi by Dulwich Diverter

Welcome to issue 45 of the Dulwich Diverter

Thank you for picking up the winter edition of the Dulwich Diverter, your free local paper for Dulwich.

Our cover star for this issue is the artist Eva Yates, who was born in Inverness and moved to Dulwich when she was four.

The talented young painter, who has recently completed a master’s at the Royal College of Art, talks to Rosario Blue about her artistic journey, the origins of which can be traced back to a trip she took aged seven to the London Aquarium.

The venue happened to be holding a crafting competition that day, which Eva went on to win – and the rest, as they

say, is history. It was a real pleasure to interview Eva about her work – to read the piece, turn to page 11.

Also appearing on our front page is the comedy writer and performer Helen Lederer, who is taking part in the inaugural SE London BookFest that is running in East Dulwich, Peckham and beyond this month.

Helen is probably best known for her role as the dippy Catriona in Absolutely Fabulous, alongside Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley. More recently she appeared in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.

Known for her unique wit and observational humour, Helen talks

to Lawrence Diamond about her entertaining memoir, Not That I’m Bitter, on page eight.

The renowned local writer and filmmaker Mark Baxter will also be giving a talk at the festival. Before the event on 19 November, Mark discusses his most recent project – a documentary on the pop-art pioneer and actor Pauline Boty –on page 17.

The next issue of the Dulwich Diverter will be published in late February and will be available for two months, including for Mother’s Day and Easter. As ever, it will be distributed by us to our many stockists across East, West, North Dulwich and the Village.

Residents debate Railway Rise development

A proposal to build a residential and student housing facility on Railway Rise, close to East Dulwich train station, continues to be the source of much debate locally, writes Luke G Williams

The proposed development, named the Sidings, would be located on a narrow section of land just off Railway Rise. The site is currently occupied by Jewson builders’ merchants and is situated behind East Dulwich Station and Grove Vale Library to the north, and the Charter School to the south. A railway line runs along the western boundary of the site.

In a landscape design statement submitted to Southwark Council in August, Cresswick, the developer behind the scheme, stated: “The site and its current form and character has been strongly influenced by the railway, and as such, it is this typology and character we aim to celebrate within the landscape, creating a sense of place and grounding the Sidings within its historical context.”

According to this statement and other planning documents, the Sidings will be a mixed-use development consisting of three buildings of up to eight storeys in places. It will provide 1,229 sq metres of flexible employment space, up to 53 homes and 360 purpose-built student accommodation rooms, as well as cycle parking, refuse stores, car parking and landscaping.

Cresswick is proposing that the site’s student accommodation facilities will be managed by CRM Students, the UK’s largest student accommodation management company.

CRM said: “[The Sidings] represents an outstanding scheme for London’s students. With a wide range of studio types and high quality and large communal areas, the Sidings will offer a wide range of students an excellent location in which to spend their time studying in London.”

Cresswick has also emphasised the environmental virtues of the development, including pocket and roof gardens, and a woodland garden located at the southern tip of the site, which will celebrate “the existing woodland character of this part of the site” as well as providing “play and amenity opportunities for children up to 11 years old”.

Cresswick also said the development will provide significant economic benefits for East Dulwich, stating: “The construction

of the development at the Railway Rise site will have a value of between £65 and £80 million and it is estimated that, at its peak, up to 150 full-time jobs will be created during the construction of the scheme.”

It added: “Annual spending on core items by the 360 students living at Railway Rise will exceed £2.4 million with an estimated £1.94 million of this being spent locally in the East Dulwich area.”

However, despite Cresswick’s claim that it has responded to feedback from an initial

If you’re a local business or organisation who is interested in advertising, please drop us a line via dulwichdiverter@gmail.com. We would love to help promote what you do both in print and online, across Dulwich, south-east London and beyond.

We are always on the lookout for interesting local stories, too – so if there’s a person or place you think we should feature, please let us know.

Finally, on behalf of the whole team at the Diverter, we would like to wish all our readers a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. See you in 2025!

MarkMcGinlayandKateWhite

consultation with local residents earlier this year, many continue to express scepticism and concern about the proposals.

Of the 387 public comments submitted to date through the council’s planning applications website, the majority have expressed opposition to the plans.

One person wrote: “The proposed building is too high and the site is overdeveloped. The height is not in keeping with local buildings and will be overlooking a secondary school, blocking light from the school and producing safeguarding risks. The school has already had to put up with many years of non-stop building – this development exposes them to more noise and air pollution.

“The proposed development is not suitable for the area – studio apartments for students do not serve the needs of the local community, which needs family-friendly accommodation as identified in local plans.

“Furthermore, the pressing need locally is for affordable housing... Developing this site as affordable family housing would be the right solution for the area and local residents.”

To view the application in full, visit planning.southwark.gov.uk and search for 24/AP/2314.

Editors Mark McGinlay, Kate White | Designer Mingo Mingo Studio | Cover designer Jake Tilson

The Dulwich Diverter

Gallery stumps up money for new artwork

Dulwich Picture Gallery has announced the acquisition of Bronze Oak Grove, the first artwork to become part of its collection since 2012.

Created by the husband-and-wife artistic duo Rob and Nick Carter in 2017, Bronze Oak Grove consists of nine oak-tree stumps cast in bronze and arranged in a circle. The work brings to life a drawing of a tree stump made in 1600 by the Dutch artist Jacob de Gheyn II. Visitors can link the artwork in the gardens to the experience inside the gallery, which houses a portrait of de Gheyn’s son by Rembrandt.

The sculpture is part of the Carters’ continuing series Transforming, which reinterprets historic artworks. Using a process of traditional “lost wax” bronze casting techniques and advanced 3D scanning and printing, the couple reimagined de Gheyn’s intricate pen and ink drawing into a realistic tree stump.

Having raised more than £176,000 to acquire the work, which was sold by the artists at the cost of materials alone, the sculpture now has a permanent home at the gallery.

A bespoke limited-edition print created by the Carters, titled Lemon after Jan Pauwel Gillemans (2024), will continue to support the Open Art project, which will transform the gallery’s three acres of previously underused land within the next year.

The Carters said of the installation: “We are deeply honoured that Bronze Oak Grove has found a permanent home at Dulwich Picture Gallery, a space steeped in artistic heritage, and one we have respected and adored for many years. This piece, inspired by the intricate work of Jacob de Gheyn II, merges the past with the present. To have our work permanently displayed alongside masters such as Gainsborough, Canaletto, Rembrandt and Constable is truly humbling.

“We hope this sculpture brings the idea of ‘play’ and interaction back into public art, offering visitors the chance to engage with it in a dynamic and meaningful way. Our aim [is that] the sculpture will continue to inspire, evoke reflection and foster community engagement for years to come. Above all, we hope it gives pleasure and enjoyment to all who experience it.”

Jennifer Scott, the director of Dulwich Picture Gallery, said: “I am over the moon to have secured Bronze Oak Grove for the collection. As an independent, nongovernment-funded charity, we can only acquire works rarely, making this moment particularly special.

“We are extremely grateful to all the supporters of our fundraising campaign. This engaging sculpture is a hero piece for our long-held dream to create a freeto-access, interactive sculpture garden for everyone to enjoy.”

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Fast times for farthings

The Penny Farthing Club, in collaboration with the historic Pickwick Bicycle Club, made headlines by setting 12 new Guinness World Records last month.

Taking place over three days at Herne Hill Velodrome (and also at the Olympic Velodrome in Stratford), the unique celebration brought together the largest gathering of penny farthings and riders seen this century.

The event showcased a stunning tribute to the Victorian-era invention, with a mix of Guinness World Record holders, passionate enthusiasts and even beginners coming together to embrace the thrill of these unique bicycles.

Daredevil displays such as onelegged pedalling, no-handed riding and

high-speed sprints were highlights, as riders pushed their limits to set new records.

These included the fastest female and male completing 1km on a penny farthing with no hands; the greatest distance on a penny farthing with one leg in one hour – male; and the fastest speed on a penny farthing – female and male.

The final record of the weekend made for a thrilling and tense stretch of time, as 140 penny farthing riders participated in an impressive stack.

In this challenge, the cycles were lined up in height order, with each rider holding on to the next bike for balance. The coordination and teamwork required was immense and after an initial false start, the

group managed to achieve the remarkable feat and the record was secured.

Among the record-breakers were several high-profile figures, including Richard Thoday – who in 2019 rode a penny farthing from Land’s End to John O’Groats in four days and 12 hours – and the long-distance cyclist and Global Cycling Network presenter Chris Opie.

The BBC Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine also took part in the penny farthing stack record. Vine said: “That was certainly a weekend to remember. It has been well over a century since so many penny farthing riders gathered in London, and the atmosphere of the event was superb. Congratulations to all my fellow Guinness World Record-breakers.”

Craig Glenday, the editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records, said: “What an extraordinary weekend of record breaking! The sight of so many of these elegant, iconic bicycles from a bygone era smashing so many speed records on a velodrome –with the odd top hat perched on top of the cycle helmets – was a joy to witness.

“It was a genuine privilege to adjudicate records as history was being written, and I was particularly honoured to be able to officially oversee the women’s one-hour record – a race that was more than 150 years overdue.”

He added: “Congratulations to Neil [Laughton] and the Penny Farthing Club for staging such a well-organised and successful meet.”

The man with the golden gloves

The former British and European boxing champion Clinton McKenzie – who runs a renowned boxing fitness gym at Dulwich Hamlet’s Champion Hill stadium – was inducted into the British Ex-Boxers Hall of Fame at a ceremony and lunch in Cardiff in September.

McKenzie, 69, told the Dulwich Diverter:

“I was delighted to be inducted. It has always been something that I’ve wanted to achieve and it’s great to be there now with the big boys and in the history books so to speak.

“My brother [the former world champion Duke] hinted to me about it but didn’t tell me until the last minute. So I wasn’t surprised but I’m very glad to have been recognised.

“It was a very pleasant event and long may it continue – it’s important that former boxers are recognised for what they

Marianne’s movie magic

The actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who grew up locally, and the director Mike Leigh have reunited after almost 30 years. Their new film, Hard Truths, premiered at the Toronto film festival in September. It has also been shown at the San Sebastián and New York film festivals.

Hard Truths had its British premiere at the London film festival last month and will be officially released in the UK in January. Leigh and Jean-Baptiste previously worked together on the 1996 movie Secrets & Lies. The film received five Oscar nominations, including best director for Leigh and best supporting actress for Jean-Baptiste.

No British-born black actor had been nominated for an Oscar before (Jaye Davidson was nominated for best supporting actor for The Crying Game in 1992, but though he was raised in Hertfordshire, he was born in California).

“I don’t remember a lot of what happened that night,” Jean-Baptiste told the Guardian in 2015. “You’re sat there, four rows from the front, Céline Dion is belting out a song

louder than a f***ing trumpet, Goldie Hawn comes up to you and tells you she loves your work. You’re like, what work? D’you know what I mean? And there’s Anjelica Huston and you’re just going, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!”

Hard Truths centres on Pansy, a woman who seems constantly angry at the world and regularly gets into scrapes with everyone from shop assistants to her dentist.

The film follows Pansy as she navigates various everyday situations, with her attitude to life having a detrimental impact on her husband, son and sister, who love her but can only handle so much. On Mother’s Day, things come to a head as her family gathers together to mark the occasion.

Jonathan Romney, a critic for Screen Daily, wrote in his review of the film: “No doubt there will be some debate over Leigh’s qualifications to portray this particular milieu, a middle-class and upper working-class sector of London’s Afro-Caribbean community. But bearing

achieved and what they’ve given to the sport.”

McKenzie enjoyed a glittering amateur boxing career, culminating in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal in which he fought the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard.

After turning professional, he reigned three times as British super-lightweight champion, won two Lonsdale belts outright and also snaffled the European title during a 50-fight career that began in 1976 and ended in 1989.

In fact, the well-schooled southpaw saw and did pretty much everything during those eventful 13 years, except fight for a world title. When asked by the Diverter to pick out the most memorable moment of a career now formally recognised by the Hall of Fame, he plumped for his remarkable final hurrah in January 1989, when he regained his British title courtesy of a

points victory against Lloyd Christie, with his young son, Leon, watching from the ringside.

“That’s a moment I’ll never forget,” McKenzie said. “Before the fight I was in the changing room, feeling a bit sorry for myself. Then I looked up and Leon was there. I didn’t expect it, I had recently split up from his mum. I thought to myself: I can’t lose now! Seeing him gave me the spark I needed to win – it brought me to life again. That moment was so special. It will stay with me my whole life.”

After retiring from the ring, McKenzie opened a gym in Herne Hill in 1994, before moving his business to Tulse Hill in 2008. In 2018 he arrived in Dulwich, opening McKenzie’s Boxing in Champion Hill, which offers a variety of classes and training sessions every week from Monday to Saturday.

in mind his famous collaborative working methods, it is clear just how much the cast have contributed to the film’s cultural detail. While the dramatic premise is

Festival fun continues

The SE London BookFest is now firmly under way and will continue until 1 December.

Extra free tickets have recently been released for two events at St Giles’ Church in Camberwell, with local writer Mark Baxter, and Emma Barnett and her husband, Jeremy Weil (all pictured).

Two new events have been added to the programme, too – with the authors Susan Allott and Helen Lederer both giving talks on their books at Canada Water Library on the last day of the festival.

Other venues taking part include bookshops such as Rye Books and Chener Books in East Dulwich, Review

in Peckham and Morocco Bound in London Bridge.

The festival founder, Mark McGinlay, said: “We’ve now sold in excess of 2,000 tickets but still have limited free places available for some events, particularly over the last weekend of the festival.

“And so far we’ve raised around £1,300 for Southwark Foodbank in donations, which is a real bonus.

“Also, we did lose a sponsor at the last minute, so we’re still looking for a bit of backing to break even.”

To book free tickets, go to tiny.cc/seltickets, or to contact the organisers, email selbookfest@gmail.com

hardly specific to a black environment, the references and linguistic patterns feel bang-on – notably Pansy’s shifting between cockney and Caribbean inflections.”

When life gives you lemons...

WE MEET LOCAL COMEDIAN HELEN LEDERER, WHO WILL DISCUSS HER MEMOIR, NOT THAT I’M BITTER, AT THE SE LONDON BOOKFEST

BY LAWRENCE DIAMOND

I am sitting opposite the writer, actor, comedian and self-confessed wine enthusiast Helen Lederer at 9.30am on a cold autumn morning. Despite the unsociable hour – too early for either of us to contemplate reaching for the corkscrew – and the seasonal chill in the air, it is clear from minute one that Helen is going to be warm and friendly company.

She is a great conversationalist and is honest, insightful, funny and engaging. So it is no surprise that her new book, Not That I’m Bitter – a 288-page memoir that was published earlier this year – has received rave reviews from critics and comedians alike.

Ben Elton wrote: “Helen’s book is funny, wise, brilliant and brave, just like its author. A fascinating trip through the life and times of one of the early (and not sufficiently recognised) heroes of alternative comedy.”

Helen was born in Wales to an English mother and a Czech father and was raised in Eltham, southeast London. She became a social worker before studying drama and venturing into standup comedy, and was one of the rising stars of the alternative British comedy scene in the mid-1980s.

She established a standup act at the legendary Comedy Store in Soho and appeared in minor parts in The Young Ones (which had been written by her Comedy Store contemporaries Ben Elton, Rik Mayall and Lise Mayer), before securing a recurring role as Catriona in the BBC’s seminal sitcom Absolutely Fabulous in the early 1990s. You may also have spotted her in Celebrity Big Brother in 2017.

Today, Helen is a respected author and comedy writer for the stage and television, as well as the founder of the Comedy Women in Print prize.

But right now she is on the road promoting Not That I’m Bitter at literary festivals around Britain – and will be giving a talk at our own SE London BookFest in December. How does the literary festival scene today compare with the London comedy club circuit of 40 years ago?

“I remember when I was doing a tour of a one-woman show, and I remember the roadie who would put a bottle of wine in the car with some cheese nuts,” Helen says. “That was how I got through that tour. But with literary festivals, it’s a very different vibe. It’s slightly more civilised.”

The book covers Helen’s early days on stage with future household names of British comedy, including Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French and others. It also discusses her struggle with the feeling that the success of her contemporaries didn’t quite reach her, and how she went on to establish

a successful career of her own as a renowned comedy writer.

The book is part self-help guide, part social history; a handbook on how to be (or not to be) a worldfamous comedian, and perhaps most importantly, as Lumley put it, a “wildly entertaining” read.

“I thought there was a law that said anything you wrote in a memoir had to be the truth,” Helen says. “So it’s all truthful, and because I am a heart-onsleeve person, I didn’t know how to do it and leave bits out.

“The biggest thing for me was to make the narrative funny. The joy I’ve received is that people have actually laughed when they read it. That was just music to my ears.”

What else is clear from reading the book is how the world of comedy has changed for the better. I ask Helen if, back in the 80s, she was aware that, as a female comedian, she was breaking boundaries – and whether she feels any sense of bitterness about the difficulties of forging a career in

I DON’T KNOW IF I HAVE ANY LOCAL FANS, BUT WE’LL HAVE A LAUGH

what was then a very male-dominated industry.

“You know, I’m not the sort of person to look at it like that, but I also don’t think we questioned things in the way that things are questioned now,” she reflects. “The behaviour of men and women in those times seems shocking to someone reading the book now, whereas for me that was just normal.

“And yeah, it was the first wave of feminism, certainly, but you only react to your immediate social environment, because you cannot anticipate how it’s going to be in the future. So I don’t remember feeling it would change or [that] it was changing.

styles and you’re never going to make everyone happy.”

The book looks at how comedians can deal with the unique stresses, strains and joys of the job – and as such, it has proved popular with others in the industry.

Helen says: “Robin Ince confessed that he just loved it, reading it as a fellow comedian, because it helped him understand the kind of psychological stuff that one goes through before gigs or that whole thing about comparing yourself with other people, which we all do. And that in the end you have to go: ‘Well, they’re not me.’”

One of Helen’s other achievements is launching the renowned Comedy Women in Print (CWIP) prize, which is described as “the UK and Ireland’s first comedy literary prize dedicated to celebrating witty women’s writing”.

The event has previously been partnered by the likes of the i newspaper and HarperCollins, with former prize-winners including Michelle Gallen, the author of Factory Girls, and Jesse Sutanto for her book Dial A for Aunties. Famous faces such as Jo Brand and Jilly Cooper have won the Game Changer and Lifetime Achievement awards respectively. I ask Helen what it’s like taking on a different sort of role in the industry she knows so well. “You become a different kind of person,” she says. “You need to raise funds and host meetings, but the achievement is great. If you look at the testimonials on our website, there are at least 30 women authors who have become career writers who wouldn’t have done if they hadn’t been longlisted for CWIP. They got agents and what have you directly because of it.”

Helen’s debut novel, Losing It, which was published in 2015, is set in East Dulwich and was inspired by the erstwhile Lordship Lane wine bar House of Tippler. It is proof that south-east London, which she has now called home for many years, has had an impact on her creative life. However, it seems it’s the peace and quiet that makes it her ideal location in which to work.

“I hate noise when I’m writing, so I have a room at the house where I’ve got a big window and it’s just somewhere I can shut the door and completely focus,” she says.

ABOVE: HELEN LEDERER HAS APPEARED IN ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS AND THE YOUNG ONES

“I do remember some other feminists decided I was vulnerable because I would do anecdotal stuff, and that p***ed me off because I’m not vulnerable. I get myself to the gig, I write my material. You know, there ain’t anything vulnerable about my job. But comedy has different

That her next book festival appearance is here in south-east London also raises a smile. “I don’t know if I have any local fans, but we’ll have a laugh,” she says. “Hopefully they’ll like the book and ask me some questions. And if they don’t, then I’ll ask myself the questions and I’ll just keep cracking on.”

Helen Lederer will appear at the SE London BookFest on 1 December. To book, visit tiny.cc/seltickets

WINTER MARKET PLACE

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Abbeyfield Dulwich is affiliated to The Abbeyfield Society, a charity established to relieve loneliness in the elderly.

Eva’s evolution

WINNING AN ART CONTEST AGED SEVEN WAS A EUREKA MOMENT FOR EVA YATES, WHO HAS JUST FINISHED A MASTER’S IN PAINTING AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART

BY ROSARIO BLUE

“At the end of the day, you can try and make painting academic, but really it all comes down to the reaction, the primal reaction one gets from the painting or from the action of painting. The reading – that comes after.”

When the classical realist artist Eva Yates first encountered classical art, she rebelled. She was on holiday in Rome, visiting the Vatican with her parents and sisters.

“I was like: ‘We are not going into any more rooms. I am so bored!’ My parents were like: ‘You’re so spoiled. How could you be so ungrateful for this amazing experience?’

“Now I’ve got way more appreciation for the classics, the masters, but I think back then, seeing so much in one place just flattened it all.”

Eva was born in Inverness in Scotland, and moved to Dulwich when she was four. “I’ve been in Dulwich since my sister was born. Then I moved out of my parents’ place to East Dulwich.”

In a way, art chose Eva when, as a seven year old, she went on a trip to the London Aquarium. The venue was running a crafting competition, and she got involved.

“You were given little butterflies, and you had to decorate them. I put way too much pressure on myself and kept adding stuff. I was like: ‘This is horrible.’ I’m a maximalist, so I kept adding and adding. There were those little wobbly eyeballs; I put those all over the butterfly. Then I was like: ‘No! It looks so silly!’

“Then I covered it with coloured tissue paper. So it had these eyeballs sticking through the tissue paper –which now I think is really cool. But I was so angry at what a fail this was. Then I got a letter through the mail saying that I won the competition, and I won a shark called Jane.

“It sounds so little, but that was a big confidence boost. I honestly think that was the aha! moment, where I thought: this is what I want to feel like all the time. And that was the last time I won an art prize.”

Eva went to the Charter School in North Dulwich. She liked art at school, but says there was no real focus on the subject. The most she was taught was to “look at this artist and copy them”. She didn’t take to academics generally, which she thinks was down to either immaturity or not being into working hard.

After secondary school she studied art at the University of Leeds, but felt uninspired. So she left and went out into the “real” world.

“I don’t think that experience of independent learning at that young age was something I was ready for,”

she says. “I grew up [over five years] of doing little bits and bobs. I feel like you have to give yourself time to get better at your craft by doing full-time jobs.”

She would have liked that period of her life to have involved more experimental painting. “I didn’t have time to make mistakes or learn from my mistakes,” she says. “It was always, just do this. It’s harder to get jobs to further yourself and your skills, because no one wants to risk you learning on their wall.”

Then someone told her about LARA, the London Atelier of Representational Art in Clapham North. Eva joined in 2017, and learned life drawing and still life. From there she got a scholarship to Grand Central Atelier in New York.

“I was living off no sleep,” she says of that time. “They worked so hard over there, like eight till eight.”

Part of what Eva learned at the atelier – where she was taught by the renowned New York artist Colleen Barry – was human anatomy.

“That is so not what I would have ever picked to do,” she says. “[But] it almost helps me too much, because now I find it hard to do a formless human. I’m like: ‘Ah, the rib cage! The rib cage has to be there and the collarbone here!’

“I wish I’d had that at a younger age. When I went to uni in Leeds, so many people had done life drawing throughout their teenage years and that’s where they were able to get to the point I am now.

“[It’s] being able to play around and have the confidence that I’m not just playing around. Some people don’t feel the need to know the science or the form behind it, but I just felt like a fraud without it.”

Eva completed just over a year and a half of her studies in New York. Then

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE VISCERAL, THE FEELING, AND THE REACTION THAT YOU CAN’T EVEN EXPLAIN. WELL, YOU DON’T NEED TO EXPLAIN

lockdown hit, and she moved back home and into her parents’ shed, continuing her studies through online classes. “Which I think was so good, because it meant that I still had a routine,” she says.

Since her tutors were now five hours behind her, she also got to sleep in.

Lockdown helped Eva to grow as an artist. “It was the first time I was able to be creative in so long. Before, it was just copying what I saw, fine-tuning and refining my subject matter. This was the first time I got to choose my models.”

ABOVE: DULWICH ARTIST EVA YATES

Her friends and family became her subjects – an experience she loved.

“You could end up spending weeks and weeks perfecting someone’s eye,” she says. “I think it was good for me because the whole world slowed down; it gave me time. It’s always good as a painter to exclude yourself from the outside world and get into a hole, a routine of going to sleep, waking up, having a coffee, painting, and to keep on doing that.”

Eva’s style is classic, but the way she weaves the contemporary into her work reminds you that she’s firmly of our time. One example is her reimagining of the pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais’ Ophelia, her first painting after graduating from the atelier. It employs classical techniques, but includes face masks floating alongside a contemporary version of Ophelia.

In September 2023, Eva began a year-long master’s in painting at the Royal College of Art. She learned a great deal from the course, especially

from her peers who experimented with paint. “My studio mate would use windscreen wipers to move the acrylic paint, and use little spray things – what you use for your kitchen – to spray paint and bleach the canvas,” she says.

Others made new mixtures out of old paint. “Stuff you normally would throw away because it’s unusable.”

She also learned about abstraction. “I’d never understood it before,” she says. “I was like: ‘But everything has to have a reason; you can’t just have too much fun.’ I learned so much from my friends. It’s all about the visceral, the feeling, and the reaction that you can’t even explain. Well, you don’t need to explain.”

Eva has been part of a few shows: Permanent Temporary at the Bottle Factory in 2022; and If You’re Lost This Is Where You Can Be Found, which she co-curated with the artist Kate McClenaghan at Safehouse 1&2 in Peckham in 2023, and which featured work from RCA students.

She also took part in Extensions of the Soul at Peckham’s Copeland Gallery, organised by Cole-Levi Klimt last August, and has a continuing exhibition at Hootananny in Brixton. While she mainly works with oil paints, she is experimenting with other materials. “I’m trying to [use] more mixed media and play with concrete, resin, acrylic hair and nails,” she says. “Bringing in different parts to give you a visceral reaction when you see it. You either wanna lick it, or [you] feel so disgusted that you get an automatic icky-feet sensation.”

What a swell party

PHOTOS BY JULIA HAWKINS

The SE London BookFest held its official launch party at Rye Books earlier this month.

Authors taking part in the inaugural festival were among the guests. Those attending included Jack Cornish, Elizabeth Chakrabarty, Orlaine McDonald, Michael Wagg, Aliya AliAfzal and Susan Allott.

Our thanks to Alastair at Rye Books for being such a lovely host and to Small Beer Brew Co for the drinks.

There is still time to book tickets to the festival, which is on until 1 December. Tickets are free or if you like, you can include a donation to local food banks. Visit tiny.cc/ seltickets for details.

Mark’s mission

WRITER AND FILM-MAKER MARK BAXTER DISCUSSES HIS LATEST PROJECT – A DOCUMENTARY ON THE POP-ART PIONEER AND ACTOR PAULINE BOTY

BY LUKE G WILLIAMS AND JACK ASTON

A forgotten heroine of the worlds of pop art and acting, Pauline Boty is finally attracting the renaissance her formidable talents deserve – albeit 58 years after her tragic death.

An exhibition of her work went on display at Gazelli Art House in Mayfair this year, and a documentary about her life and career was released this summer by the writer, film-maker and general renaissance man Mark Baxter.

Mark will be giving a talk at the SE London BookFest this month in which he will discuss why he made the documentary on Boty, as well as many other aspects of his fascinating and wide-ranging career.

Born and raised in Camberwell – the area in which he still lives –Mark has written books on topics as varied as local history, mods and footballer fashion, plus a number of novels. He has also produced various documentaries.

One of his early works was The Mumper, a novel based on Mark, his dad and the south-east London he grew up in. It was later turned into a film called Outside Bet, starring Jenny Agutter, Bob Hoskins and Phil Davis.

Other books he has written include Walworth Through Time, with local history expert and photography collector Darren Lock; and Elizabeth, Peter & Me, a novel about an older criminal in south-east London. His producing credits include A Man in a Hurry – a documentary on the UK jazz great Tubby Hayes narrated by Martin Freeman; Peter Blake: Pop Art Life for Sky Arts; and Long Hot Summers, also for Sky Arts, about the band that Paul Weller formed after the Jam split up in 1982.

Boty – I Am The Sixties, which came out in June, is the latest documentary to add to this list. What inspired him to make it? “I love a 1960s story and I love telling the story of an underdog –someone who has been forgotten or slipped through the cracks, and that’s the case with Pauline,” Mark says.

“A few years back I heard a radio play about Pauline written by Vinny Rawding – it was very powerful. I knew Vinny so I got in touch. We got together and worked with a company called Channel X.”

The duo interviewed a number of people from Boty’s life – including family, friends and contemporaries. While there was not a lot of archive material to draw on, they made a number of new discoveries, before piecing it all together to make the film.

Born in Carshalton, Sutton, on 6 March 1938, Boty’s background was one of unremarkable, middleclass respectability. Her father was an accountant, while her mother had nursed artistic ambitions in her youth that were thwarted by familial disapproval.

Boty excelled at Wallington Girls’ Grammar School, which she attended from 1949 to 54, winning a scholarship to Wimbledon School of Art.

While studying at Wimbledon, some of her work was accepted into the 1957 Young Contemporaries show at the RBA Galleries in London. Boty’s striking blonde looks also won her a legion of admirers, and the nickname “Wimbledon’s Brigitte Bardot”.

After graduating in 1958, Boty was accepted into the Royal College of Art, where she studied stained glass. While there, she took on a dizzying array of other work – including serving as the secretary of a group of architectural activists known as the Anti-Ugly Action group. She also regularly had work accepted into exhibitions of rising artists, including Modern Stained Glass in 1960.

It was 1961 that proved to be Boty’s breakthrough year. In November she exhibited more than 20 works in the groundbreaking exhibition Blake, Boty, Porter, Reeve at London’s AIA Gallery, with her pop-art collages, which incorporated influences as varied as Superman comics and Gertrude Stein, winning acclaim.

Then, at a New Year’s Eve party at Chelsea School of Art, a chance meeting with the TV producer Philip Saville set Boty on the path to an acting career.

A role in an ITV Armchair Theatre play titled North City Traffic Straight

Ahead in July 1962 represented her professional debut. The next year, her part in the cutting-edge Royal Court Theatre’s Day of the Prince won her rave reviews, with one local paper declaring: “As a comedienne, she’s top of the class.”

Meanwhile, Boty’s artistic career was going from strength to strength. Her position in the vanguard of the popart movement was rubber-stamped by her role in Ken Russell’s documentary Pop Goes the Easel for the BBC’s Monitor arts strand, alongside fellow artists Peter Blake, Derek Boshier and Peter Phillips.

As Boty’s profile soared, she was granted her first solo show in September 1963, which was mounted at the Grabowski Gallery in Chelsea.

By now, Boty had a husband, having married the literary agent Clive Goodwin after a whirlwind 10-day romance. Her art was becoming more political, referring to events such as the Cuban revolution, the Vietnam war, and sexual and gender politics.

With her work appearing in Life magazine and in high-profile shows, the art world appeared to be at her feet, but then tragedy intervened.

Boty’s philosophy of life was an inspiring one – based on living in the moment and seizing every opportunity. “I think of the present, not much of the future,” she told Nell Dunn for the 1964 book Talking to Women.

Eerily foreshadowing the events of the next two years, she then added: “I [find] myself sort of living my life as though I’d probably only got a few more years to live.”

In 1965, Boty became pregnant and during a routine prenatal examination, she was diagnosed with cancer. Consumed with love for her unborn child, she refused an abortion, or even chemotherapy, in case the foetus be harmed. Her daughter, Katy Goodwin, was born on 12 February 1966 and Boty died less than five months later.

Tragedy stalked Boty even after her death – her husband Clive died of a brain haemorrhage in 1978, and her beloved daughter, who later assumed the name Boty Goodwin and proved to be a talented artist in her own right, died in 1995 of an accidental heroin overdose aged 29.

For years, much of Boty’s work lay in storage in a barn on her brother’s farm in Kent, her impact forgotten. However, gradually her work has been rediscovered.

Mark sees Boty’s legacy as inspiring, albeit tinged with tragedy. “She was doing incredible work at a young age and was the only female artist really in the British pop-art world alongside the likes of Peter Blake.

“Interest in her work has been growing – there’s been the recent exhibition, there’s a new book out about her [Pauline Boty: British Pop Art’s Sole Sister by Marc Kristal] and her work has been selling for a lot of money at Sotheby’s and Christie’s.

I LOVE A 1960S STORY AND I LOVE TELLING THE STORY OF AN UNDERDOG – SOMEONE WHO HAS SLIPPED THROUGH THE CRACKS

“She struggled at times – it was very hard for women to get into the Royal College of Art through the painting school, she had to take a stained glass route instead. But what’s significant about Pauline is she never gave up – she kept going and going and was determined to break through.

“She was a real force of nature across several fields who was tragically cut down very young. She left behind a really good body of work – but who knows where and what she would have gone on to do and achieve had she lived.”

Mark Baxter will appear at the SE London BookFest on 19 November. To book, visit tiny.cc/seltickets

RIGHT: PAULINE BOTY ABOVE: MARK BAXTER

Photo by Alexander McBride Wilson

Small wonder

SMALL BEER TASTES JUST LIKE REGULAR BEER BUT WON’T GIVE YOU A HANGOVER. THE TRAILBLAZING TWOSOME BEHIND SMALL BEER BREW CO TELL

US MORE

BY LUKE G WILLIAMS

Fresh-faced, humorous and affable, James Grundy and Felix James are – at first glance – somewhat unlikely beer industry “disruptors”. However, the impact that the enterprising Peckham and Catford residents have made since launching Small Beer Brew Co in 2017 has been undeniable.

Small beer is beer with an alcohol content of between 0.5% and 2.8%, and a drink whose roots extend back to the days of Chaucer and Shakespeare, when the untrustworthy and downright dangerous nature of most drinking water meant that small beer was the drink of choice in households and workplaces across the country, as well as in schools.

As the quality of sanitation and drinking water improved throughout the 19th century, small beer gradually became a thing of the past – until James and Felix, who have a combined 34 years of experience in the drinks industry and met when they were working for Sipsmith gin distillery, teamed up to resurrect the concept.

The benefits of small beer are succinctly and persuasively summarised by Felix. “The reason that 2.8% is the upper alcohol limit for small beer and always has been is because it is the human diuretic limit,” he explains.

“If you drink above 2.8% you are dehydrating as you drink, and if you drink below 2.8% you’re hydrating as you drink. In fact, you’re actually hydrating better than if you were drinking water, because beer is isotonic.

“So if you drink our small beer, you can enjoy your evening and the next day, you wake up with no hangover, you can remember the conversations you’ve had and you haven’t made a fool of yourself!”

Small Beer Brew Co was partly born out of James’ and Felix’s own life experiences. James says: “Having both reached a certain age and having young families and busy work schedules, we were at a stage in our lives where we still wanted to find the time to drink great beer without the fallout, and hangovers, you get from a high [alcohol] beer. But there was nothing out there – the options at the time were 0%, 5% continental beers or the far stronger American craftinspired beers.”

Despite the clear gap in the market, Felix agrees that launching Small Beer Brew Co was a considerable risk. “We knew the huge potential of the idea, but there were good reasons why no other brewers had done this before,” he says.

“It’s technically very tough to get small beer tasting like the premium

4% or 5% beers we know and love. There are more non-alcoholic beers out there now than when we began, and they’ve been gradually improving, but they still don’t quite taste like the real thing.”

Small Beer Brew Co beer, however, as this writer can happily attest –having manfully cracked open a can or two during the writing of this article – does indeed taste like the “real thing”.

So how did James and Felix do it? “Felix designed this incredible kit for the production of mid-strength beer,” James says. “When we took it to the people we wanted to build it for us, people who had built for all the major breweries, they said they had never seen anything like it before. They said: ‘You won’t be able to brew beer with this.’ We replied: ‘You’re right, we won’t be able to brew big beer, but we will be able to brew the best small beer anyone has ever tasted.’”

A bit like an old married couple who endearingly finish each other’s sentences, Felix seamlessly interjects to continue the story. “We use the same production method as if we were going to brew a big beer. We don’t remove any alcohol, we don’t add anything unnecessarily – we’re very distinct from non-alcoholic beers in that respect, which is why our beer still tastes like beer. It’s tricky to get a beer that is full bodied and gives the full experience you get when you drink a great beer with the usual alcohol content.”

Since they began trading, the Small Beer Brew Co empire has expanded rapidly, overcoming the scepticism of the industry as well as the challenges of Brexit and Covid along the way. The company’s HQ on Verney Road, south Bermondsey, doubles up as a popular tap room, with tables and benches for patrons placed against the arresting backdrop of striking, silver brewing tanks. As well as doing a roaring trade in small beer and snacks, the tap room hosts a dizzying array of special events – from private functions to live music.

The beer they brew in Bermondsey can be found in Waitrose and Majestic, on the virtual shelves of Ocado and in a host of independents. Small Beer Brew Co has even reached the east coast of the United States, where its beers can be found in the mega-chain Whole Foods. “We’re unique not only in the UK but also globally,” Felix says. “There isn’t another brewery in the world that just specialises in mid-strength beer.”

Despite their increasingly global profile, however, Small Beer Brew Co remains firmly rooted in the local community. “You’ll find us available locally, in the butchers and the greengrocers and delis and in many

WE’RE UNIQUE NOT ONLY IN THE UK BUT ALSO GLOBALLY. THERE ISN’T ANOTHER BREWERY IN THE WORLD THAT JUST SPECIALISES IN MIDSTRENGTH BEER

of the great spots along Bellenden Road,” says Peckham resident James. “We also work closely with Dulwich Hamlet football club, where I love to take my daughters. We’re frequently in and around Peckham flying the flag for small beer.”

ABOVE: FELIX JAMES AND JAMES GRUNDY, WHOSE SMALL BEER IS SOLD EVERYWHERE FROM DULWICH HAMLET TO WAITROSE

Sustainability is also a huge part of the Small Beer Brew Co story, with the brewery the first in London to have been awarded B Corp certification in recognition of its high level of social and environmental performance. It is also the first to operate a dry floor policy, saving millions of litres of water.

“We’ve both got strong ethics and beliefs in that area,” Felix says. “We’ve both had experience of observing the huge waste that exists in the drinks industry, particularly of water. What allows us to sleep well at night is that we’re doing far better in the area of sustainability than our competitors.”

James adds: “We hope we are inspiring others and can be a beacon for others in our industry. Traditionally, creating a pint of beer can take eight to 10 pints of water, which is insane, but that’s how it’s always been done.

“We’ve managed to reduce our water usage to 1.3 pints per pint of beer and the industry average has come down to between five and six, partly we like to think because we’ve been banging the drum for positive change.”

As well as having saved 6.5 million litres of water, Small Beer Brew Co is run using renewable energy sources, and all its products use fully recycled or recyclable packaging.

Given all they have achieved since launching the company seven years ago, the final question I have for James and Felix is when do they get to sleep? “That’s a good question,” James smiles ruefully, before turning to Felix, who quips: “The quality of our sleep is very good though. Small beer really does help with that!”

East Dulwich’s newest wine bar and shop

From 19th November 2024, Dynamic Vines will be joining the local community at 149 Lordship Lane.

Buy biodynamic and organic, European wines to take home or enjoy in our cosy bar without any corkage fee, alongside a selection of freshly baked bread, charcuterie and cheese from Mons Cheesemongers next door.

Drop in for our ever-rotating schedule of visiting producers, weekly tastings and daily specials, or simply join us soon to raise a glass to your new neighbours.

We believe that wine commemorates special moments in time, which is why all of our wines are sourced from minimal intervention, sustainable vineyards.

Founded by Frederic Grappe, Dynamic Vines has been supplying biodynamic wines to the best restaurants and wine shops in the UK for the last 20 years. With wines from over 60 pioneering producers and an impressive selection of back vintages, we will be bringing an entirely new and unique experience to East Dulwich.

Dynamic Vines

149 Lordship Lane, London, SE22

Open Tuesday to Saturday 10am - 9.30pm, and Sunday 10am - 5pm

Brussels sprout surprise

LOCAL FOOD WRITER HELEN GRAVES SHOWS US HOW TO MAKE A SEASONAL SPROUT KIMCHI

INGREDIENTS

• 1kg brussels sprouts, sliced (I did this in a food processor)

• 1 daikon, cut into strips or sliced (I did mine in julienne)

• 1 Chinese cabbage, sliced

• 2 heads garlic, cloves peeled

• 2 inches ginger, peeled

• 3 tablespoons white miso

• ½ cup Korean chilli flakes (you can literally just measure this in a mug)

Brussels sprout kimchi! Has she gone mad? Absolutely not – they’re just mini cabbages, after all. This recipe makes one of my favourite ever kimchis and of course, it’s fiercely seasonal.

I cannot emphasise enough just how well this works in a toastie with stilton, and also the day after Christmas in a toastie with cheddar and ham.

Imagine putting it in your Christmas leftovers sandwiches! You can eat it for breakfast, too – it’s perfect in the morning with eggs.

METHOD

Place the shredded sprouts, daikon and Chinese cabbage in a bowl with a good handful of fine salt and mix well – don’t worry about the quantity because you’ll rinse a lot of it off afterwards.

Squeeze it with your hands until some juice forms, then top it up with enough water to cover it. Weight it down with something heavyish, such as a sturdy pan. Cover and leave overnight.

Sterilise a two-litre Kilner jar, and combine the garlic, ginger, miso and chilli in a blender.

Rinse the veg then mix with the garlic paste and pack into the jar, pressing it down firmly with your fist. I cover my ferments with a ziplock bag filled with

Basically what I’m saying is that no one should be without this kimchi during the festive season and if you make it now, you’ll have a huge jar to see you through to January. Give the gift of sprout-chi to your gut microbiome this Christmas!

This isn’t a particularly spicy kimchi so adjust to your taste. I like to eat my toasties with sriracha, so I kept this quite mild. It’s tangy and fizzing with all your usual brilliant kimchi flavours, and the sprouts have a lovely lemony edge.

water because it moulds to the shape of the ingredients and jar nicely, making sure it’s all submerged – a small dish or ramekin would be a non-plastic alternative.

Leave to ferment for at least four days before tasting, but make sure you open the jar to burp it once a day.

I made mine about 10 days ago and I am keeping it at room temperature but burping every day. It will keep actively fermenting at this temperature and the flavour will develop, so it’s up to you when you’d like to stop that process. When you do, just transfer it to the fridge, where you won’t need to keep burping it. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

• Splash of vegetable oil

• 1 large onion, finely diced

SERVES 6

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 good tsp ground turmeric

• 200g pearl barley

• 200g brown lentils

• 2 litres boiling water

• 1 400g can chickpeas, drained

• 2 400g cans red kidney beans, drained

• 1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped (but not too finely)

• 1 bunch of coriander, chopped (ditto)

• 1 bunch of spinach, washed and roughly chopped

• 1 level teaspoon black pepper

• Sea salt, to taste

To serve:

• 1 small onion, finely chopped

• 3 teaspoons dried mint

SALLY

Ash-e-jo herb and barley soup

BUTCHER, OWNER OF PERSEPOLIS IN PECKHAM, SHARES A SOUP FROM HER BOOK VEGANISTAN

Ash (pronounced ahsh) is the shah of all Persian potages. There are quite a few different versions of this dish, but they all comprise a thick and nutritious concoction of herbs, beans and carbs. So important is this type of soup to Persian culinary culture that the Farsi word for chef is ash-paz, or someone who is capable of making ash, and the word for kitchen is ash-paz khouneh (the home

METHOD

Fry the onion and garlic in a little oil; once it has softened, add the turmeric, mixing well, then the barley and lentils. Mix again so that everything is coated in garlicky oil and then add the boiling water. Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 45 minutes, add the drained chickpeas and beans and the chopped herbs and spinach. Simmer for another 45 minutes, or until the barley ears

of the ash-maker/chef). And it doesn’t stop there: the language is peppered with sayings that incorporate ash.

Ash-e-jo is probably the easiest of all to make, not least because barley is a simple ingredient to source. Other common preparations are with noodles (ash-e-reshteh), or with fruit (ash-emiveh), or with all the things in your cupboard (ash-e-sholeh ghalam car).

become quite fat and release their starch – this is the sign that the barley is ready. Add more water if necessary, and season with the pepper and salt to taste. Fry the remaining onion in a little hot oil, then after a few minutes throw in the mint. Cook until both are quite dark and scalded. This is your garnish. Serve the soup in bowls, topped with a little of the mint/onion garnish. A good vegan yoghurt makes for a pleasant accompaniment.

TO THE HAMLET

Danny Mills

Position Striker

Born 1991

Danny Mills was born in Croydon and started his career with the Croydon FC youth system in 2007, before signing for Conference National club Crawley Town the next year.

Mills scored 26 goals in 2008-09 for Crawley’s youth team and made two firstteam appearances as a substitute, earning a trial at Rangers and a £15,000 move to Peterborough United.

After being released by Peterborough, Mills joined Carshalton Athletic at the start of the 2012-13 Isthmian League Premier Division season. He then moved to Whitehawk and helped the Hawks to the Isthmian League Premier Division title. In March 2017, Mills scored his 100th goal for the club.

ACROSS: 7 South

In June 2019, Mills signed for Dulwich Hamlet. During his time with the pink and blues (excluding the current season), he has scored at least 10 goals in four out of five seasons, including 20 goals in his debut season. To read more about the history of the Hamlet, visit thehamlethistorian.blogspot.co.uk

CURTAILCHORUS (ANAGRAM) (5, 8)

9 WEALTH, LUXURY (8)

10 SMALL POOL OF RAINWATER (6)

11 AGREE (6)

12 ORANGE-COLOURED FRUITS (8)

15 CALLER (7)

16 WORLD OF GOODS, SERVICES AND MONEY (7)

19 WORSHIP (8)

21 STRONG PAINKILLING DRUG (6)

22 HORSE’S FAST PACE (6)

24 RESIGN THE THRONE (8)

25 INWARD-LOOKING STATE (13) DOWN

1 MAKE CONCESSIONS, MEET HALFWAY (10)

2 CAVE’S HANGING SPIKE (10)

3 STORY OUTLINE (8)

4 US MAIN ROAD (7)

5 WOOLLEN ITEM OF CLOTHING (6)

6 MAGICIAN’S STICK (4)

8 STRATEGIC BOARD GAME (5)

13 IMPOUND (10)

14 LURE, ENTICEMENT (10)

17 MORE OVERCAST (8)

18 BECOME ILL AGAIN (7)

19 IMPRECISE, FUZZY (5)

20 UNIT OF ELECTRICAL CURRENT (6)

23 PART OF A CHAIN (4)

TO THE PAST

TO THE PEOPLE

Delphine Parrott

Delphine Mary Vera Parrott was an endocrinologist, immunologist and academic.

She was born in Dulwich on 2 May 1928. She studied physiology at Bedford College and then gained a doctorate at King’s College London. She did research at the National Institute for Medical Research in the 1950s and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in the 1960s. In 1967, she moved to the University of Glasgow to work in the department of bacteriology and immunology as a senior lecturer, and became the university’s first female professor in 1973. She was appointed the Gardiner professor of immunology in 1980 and retired in 1990. She died in 2016, aged 87.

The Half Moon

The Half Moon is a Grade-II*-listed pub in Herne Hill. The first public house “known by the sign of the Half Moon” was built by Joseph Miller in 1760.

A letter to the editor of the Monthly Magazine in 1808 recorded the death of a boy chimney sweep at the Half Moon on 12 February that year. He had been taken in suffering from fatigue and cold on “Dulwich Lane” after a large snowfall.

In 1844, Edward Alleyn’s tombstone, removed many years earlier from Christ’s Chapel of God’s Gift, was found at the Half Moon, where it was believed to be serving as a cover or break-water for a sewer in the pub garden. It was said the tombstone had “doubtless proved advantageous to the landlord in drawing visitors to his house”.

Former landlord John Webb appeared in the Old Bailey records of 1833, providing a reference of good character for a prisoner named William Patten, 22, who was found guilty of stealing two pigs and was sentenced to be transported for seven years.

circular,

Opulence,

Puddle, 11 Concur, 12 Apricots, 15 Visitor, 16 Economy, 19 Venerate, 21 Opiate,

22 Gallop, 24 Abdicate, 25 Introspection. DOWN: 1 Compromise, 2 Stalactite, 3 Scenario, 4 Freeway, 5 Jumper, 6 Wand, 8 Chess,

Ampere,

Link.

Rosemead Preparatory School celebrates 500 years of Black Music with a day to remember.

ROSEMEAD PREPARATORY SCHOOL AND NURSERY, DULWICH, CELEBRATED 500 YEARS OF BLACK MUSIC WITH A ‘BEYOND THE BASSLINE’ THEMED DAY ON FRIDAY 11 OCTOBER 2024.

As part of the school’s We Are Rosemead EEDI initiative, which places a focus on fostering Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion within the school community, Rosemead enjoyed a vibrant and uplifting day celebrating Beyond the Bassline: 500 Years of Black Music. This event brought together children, staff and guest speakers to celebrate the profound impact Black music has had on global culture and history, connecting Rosemead’s curriculum to this rich legacy.

Speaking about the event, head Graeme McCafferty explained: “We were thrilled to welcome two dynamic guest speakers, David Kadumukasa and CeCelia Wickham-Anderson. David, our very own cellist, captivated our children with fascinating insights into his journey through music, sharing stories and songs from his past.

“CeCelia Wickham-Anderson, a legendary vocalist and educator, brought energy and passion to the day through her vocal warm-ups and singing sessions. She led the children in a series of incredible vocal exercises, demonstrating the power of music as a universal language that connects us all. The children were enthralled by her warmth and expertise, and their voices filled the school with beautiful harmonies – a highlight that left everyone buzzing with excitement.”

Graeme added: “CeCelia educated us

all, sharing songs from music’s roots in African traditions to its influence on genres such as jazz, reggae and hip-hop. Her talk offered a powerful reminder of how Black artists and communities have shaped the soundtracks of our lives.

“In addition to our live guests, we were delighted to receive messages of support from two influential figures in the music industry: Mark De-Lisser, a celebrated

vocal coach and choir director, whom some of you may remember as our guest speaker at our end of year celebrations in 2022, and the Grammy award-winning artist Ella Mai. Both shared words of encouragement with our children, reinforcing the importance of believing in their talents and staying connected to their cultural heritage through the arts.”

The celebration was more than just a

musical experience; it was a key moment for Rosemead’s ongoing efforts to celebrate the diversity within the school community and to inspire children with stories and perspectives from different cultures. The event also reflected the heart of the We Are Rosemead initiative, which is dedicated to creating a school environment where everyone feels seen, heard and valued for their unique contributions.

Beyond the Bassline helps nurture a deeper understanding of the world around us, teaching our children not just about the past, but about the importance of inclusion, respect and unity in shaping the future.

Last month, Rosemead was delighted to find out it has been nominated for two awards at the upcoming ISA Awards in November. The school has been shortlisted for Innovation in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and for Junior School of the Year. Rosemead is also celebrating after a visit from the Good Schools Guide earlier this year. “We think Rosemead is definitely ‘one to watch’ as it carves out a specific niche in this corner of London,” the review explained.

In June, the school was also delighted to receive an award at the prestigious Education Choices Award, winning for best Improvements in EDIB (Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging).

& WOOLWICH CONTEMPORARY PRINT FAIR

As lead sponsor for this year’s Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, FSC will be bringing our ‘Creative for Good’ vision to the fair through the FSC Lounge. Our lounge is a specially curated space that includes exclusive DJs, live music, art works and special guest talks from community leaders & founders who are using creativity to make social impact.

Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair is the leading international art fair for original contemporary print, with a unique alternative model that is disrupting the traditional art market, and revolutionising the art fair to make art more accessible for everyone.